“I’m trying a couple of new recipes for a baking competition,” I told him. “You can be my taste tester.”
“I would be honored,” Gregory said. Then, he added, “Bailey will be home on Saturday.”
“That’s okay. I’m happy to spend time with both of you.”
“You aren’t disappointed?”
“Not at all,” I said. I meant it, too. I would have given anything to have had a dad as attentive and kind as Gregory was. Bailey was lucky to have him.
“Okay,” Gregory said. “It’s a date, then.”
“It’s a date.”
4
Gregory
When Saturday arrived, I was ready. Bailey was, too. We’d prepared an assortment of snacks and treats to share with Kinsley, and as promised, Kinsley brought plenty of cupcakes with her.
“Woah,” Bailey glanced over all of the food. She licked her lips. “You made all of this?”
“Guilty,” Kinsley laughed.
“Don’t be guilty,” Bailey shook her head. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the snowman cupcakes that were topped with powdered sugar and marshmallows. “These are super cute. I want to eat them.”
“Have as many as you want. I brought a lot because I want you and your dad to tell me which ones are your favorites.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, there’s a competition next week, and I want to enter.”
“That sounds kind of interesting,” Bailey said. “What kind of competition?”
“It’s the annual Ashton Town Bake-Off, right?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Kinsley looked over at me. She seemed a little surprised that I knew about it. “How did you know about the bake-off?”
“Ashley used to enter that from time-to-time,” I said.
“Oh yeah,” Bailey nodded. “She baked muffins, right? I think I remember her baking muffins.”
“Yes. They were chocolate chip, to be precise, and she never won a single thing, but she always had fun.”
“That’s sweet,” Kinsley said, crossing her arms over her chest. “To be honest, muffins are really hard to bake in a competition because all of the judges seem to have strong opinions about the right texture for a muffin.”
“What do you mean?” Bailey wanted to know.
“Well, think about it like this.” Kinsley looked at the cupcakes she’d set on the counter, and she picked one up. She held it up in the air for a moment. “These cupcakes are covered in frosting and drizzle and toppings. They have a lot of different elements that come together to make them taste good. No matter how you like your cupcake cooked, whether you like it dry or soft, the toppings can change the flavoring and make or break the cupcake.”
“That’s interesting,” I murmured, watching her. It was fun to see Kinsley talk about baking. Her eyes lit up, and she seemed to get very excited as she talked. I liked that. I was still getting to know Kinsley, but I had a feeling that she had a big heart and that she was the type of person who always looked after others.
“When you bake a muffin, on the other hand, it usually doesn’t have a topping. The muffin has to fend for itself. If you overbake it even a little bit, the judges will complain. If I do that with my cupcakes,” she shrugged, “I can just add extra toppings to it.”
“I didn’t know any of that,” Bailey grinned.
“I didn’t, either, until I started working at Savored.”
“How long have you been there?” I found myself asking. I looked over the different cupcakes she’d brought. Some of them had snowmen on top. A couple of the cupcakes had reindeer. There was even one that had a tiny frosting Santa Clause. They were all wildly cute and super adorable.